In case you’re unfamiliar, the majority of smartphone chipsets out there rely on ARM’s architecture, where companies like Apple, Samsung, Qualcomm, Huawei, and MediaTek license this technology to help them with their own custom chip designs. Now according to a report from The Wall Street Journal, ARM’s owner, SoftBank, is said to be considering selling them off.
SoftBank had previously acquire ARM back in 2016 for $32 billion, but according to the report, the company is thinking of selling ARM off in order to “raise cash from its varied stable of assets”, where the company is said to be looking to sell off as much as $41 billion worth of assets in the process.
As the report points out, SoftBank had stated in the past that they might return ARM to public markets at some point in the future, and if this report is accurate, it looks like SoftBank is looking to begin that process. It is unclear who might be looking to acquire the company, but some are opining that it would make sense that Apple might want to acquire them.
This is because Apple has recently confirmed that they would be transitioning away from Intel processors to custom ARM-based chipsets for their computers. This would save money from having to pay Intel for processors and other licensing fees, so by acquiring ARM, it could also benefit Apple in the long run.
This is just an opinion for now, but it could be a pretty big deal if Apple were to pick them up.
Filed in . Read more about SoC and Softbank. Source: 9to5mac